Relationship Building

Yesterday, Frank Palmer was featured in a Strategy Daily article, with the headline ‘Fun with Frank’.

I adore Frank Palmer … I am not sure I have ever told him that, but Frank is my mentor, my hero … my superman in the ad business.

After reading the ‘Fun with Frank’ article a couple of times … my memories of gut wrenching, side splitting, cheek aching laughter came flooding back to me, and you can guess who was at the centre of it all … Frank Palmer!

I was a young kid starting my first big, real, intimidating advertising agency job in August of 1989 at Vickers and Benson. I had been hired as an Account Manager on the McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada business.

Back then, the McDonald’s business was divided up regionally. Vickers and Benson had the assignment for both Ontario and National. Cossette had Quebec, and Frank Palmer (Palmer Jarvis) had the west.

I had been with V&B for 1 week when the word came down from above that all of us were invited to the mothership (McDonald’s head office in Chicago), to receive our 10 year anniversary award. As much as this was an award for V&B, all of the heads of the other regional agencies were also invited … and yes of course this included Frank Palmer.

When we all arrived at the hotel in Chicago, a message for each us had been left from Frank to meet him in his suite at 4:00pm that afternoon. We figured it was all about acceptance speeches and seating arrangements for the big, formal, gala dinner that evening (when were to receive our award).

When we entered Frank’s suite we were shocked to see 50 sets of red long johns laid out on the bed … each pair featuring the yellow McDonald’s arches next to the hammer and sickle. There were also 50 matching grey ‘Russian’ fur hats with the McDonald’s logo on them.

We were all asked to select our size, take them to our rooms and put them on for the dinner.

As I mentioned, that was the big, formal, black tie, huge Chicago hotel ballroom affair. Of course, that was exactly why Frank did it. Plus the fact that George Cohen had just opened the first McDonald’s in Red Square, and as the Canadians, Frank wanted us to show the world how proud we were!

After picking up our long johns, we had about an hour before dinner. Some of the more creative and inventive Canadians headed to the dollar store to buy gold brocade and sequins … anything they could lay their hands on to ‘glam up’ the underwear they were about to wear to dinner.

One incredibly creative Canadian somehow managed to find a location where they could have stickers produced in under an hour. In the picture you can see some of the guests donning the white circular stickers with black writing. Each sticker read – ‘Thanks Frank Palmer … no one asked me to dance!’

Take a look at the 3rd row from the floor, on the far right hand side … there he is … Frank Palmer sporting the devilish grin that defines him.

Thanks Frank Palmer, you were right … no one asked me to dance, but you taught me everything I know about the business … including the most important part … how to have fun!

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Great networking means creating relationships that will last your entire career. But how do you make it more fun and less WORK?

Here are five tips that will help take the edge off.

Get to know Two to Three people well:

At industry events instead of merely fattening your stack of business cards by talking to everybody. Find shared personal interests to create a stronger bond. It’s not a game of how many people in the room you speak to, it’s about creating meaningful relationships. In this case … less is definitely more!

Fly solo at events:

Chat with people you haven’t met. Make a point of sitting with strangers at meals, always choose the table away from where your friends or co-workers are sitting. Tip: Walk up to someone you know, who’s speaking to people you do not know, and become part of their conversation.

Run a group:

Help run a trade association or networking group. You’ll get to know the stakeholders well, and they’ll introduce you to others.

Speak on a panel:

Work on becoming a thought leader or a subject matter expert. Offer to speak at trade association events (some are “pay to play” but might still be wise investments). Put yourself in front of a crowd, those who connect with your passion, and presentation will seek you out!

Use social media:

If you produce quality content about your expertise via a blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, an e-newsletter or video, the content can serve as an icebreaker with others. Ask questions, start conversations, and take interest in what your peers are posting.

We would love to hear from you! Do you have any go to tips or tricks that help you Network with the best of them? Leave us a comment down below.

For more brainstorming tips and creative thinking hacks, be sure to follow Barefoot Brainstorming on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.